Hydrofracking Roundup: Still Work To Do On DEC Review

We haven’t heard much lately about the state’s progress when it comes to its review of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, but a handful of newsy tidbits have been making the rounds in recent days.

Here’s a few:

—Howard Glaser, director of state operations for Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was asked in a radio interview today about the Department of Environmental Conservation’s progress when it comes to making a decision on whether to allow high-volume hydrofracking. The agency has been reviewing the technique for much of the past four years, and its final report is expected later this year.

The short story? There’s still some work to do in reviewing the 60,000+ comments the DEC received on its draft review.

“We’re required under the law to make sure that each comment is responded to within the new potential regulation, that the concerns are evaluated,” Glaser said. “And if the rule is changed to reflect them or not, we’ve got to explain that. And that’s got to be done for each and every one, otherwise the whole system collapses.”

Glaser reiterated that the DEC “doesn’t have a particular timeframe” to finish its review. High-volume hydrofracking remains on hold until it’s complete.

—One sign that the DEC is making progress on its review? The aforementioned 60,000+ plus comments have apparently all been scanned into the DEC’s system, and were made available on DVDs to reporters and others who requested them under the Freedom of Information Law. (See photo at left.)

In announcing the bills, Grisanti said in a statement that he’s “confident” that “the (DEC’s) finalized document and regulations will include many critical protective measures.”

“We do not want to have our children be forced to drink bottled water because our water has been tainted nor do we want another Love Canal,” he said. “However, we want to continue to search for economical environmentally safe national options for fuel and energy, to relieve our dependence on foreign entities.”

New Yorkers Against Hydrofracking, a coalition of groups pushing for a statewide fracking ban, wasn’t pleased.

“Grisanti’s proposals are nothing but a fig leaf,” Dan Cantor, executive director of the Working Families Party, said in a statement. “They allow him to pretend he cares about the safety of our water, but they really just pave the way for the fracking of New York to begin.”